The concentration and health risk assessment of trace elements in commercial soft drinks from Iran marketed

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to assess the concentration of the trace elements Al, As, Cd, Ba, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Mn, Fe and Zn in 150 commercial soft drinks marketed of Iran, using inductive couple plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The data obtained were compared with the permissible limit set for drinking water by the Codex Alimantarius (CA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) and National Standard of Iran (NSI). The highest mean level was 84.11 ± 27.06 μg/L is related to Fe and the lowest was <detection limit to As and Hg. The concentrations of Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu, Ba, Hg, Cd and As in samples were lower than the limit set by USEPA, FAO/WHO, CA and NSI. In contrast, the concentrations of Fe, Al, Mn and Zn soft drink samples were higher than the limit set by USEPA, FAO/WHO, CA and NSI. Monte Carlo simulation results indicated that the trend of potential non-carcinogenic risks in all samples was Cd > Cr > Pb > Ni > Al > Ba. Target hazard quotient index of toxic elements, for adults and children, was considerably lower than the safe risk limits THQ > 1.

KEYWORDS:

• Essential elements
• toxic elements
• health risk assessment
• soft drink
• ICP-OES

Acknowledgments

This study was carried out by the researchers in the Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services.

Disclosure statement

The authors’ state which they have no known competing personal relationships or financial interests which could have appeared to influence the work told in this paper.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.